A Letter From Ginny
by EvanescoElly
Summary: Harry gets a surprise letter from Ginny. Set during DH. T for swears.


A/N: I do not own the characters, they are property of JK Rowling.

Written for M1H of the Promptless One Hour Challenge/Hardest Challence Ever.

It wasn't that he had wanted to leave her. It wasn't like he had a choice. He couldn't let her get hurt like that. He couldn't let her be used as a pawn in this cruel war. It wasn't fair. He loved her, but he wasn't sure that she believed him anymore. It was true though. He did love her. He would do anything for her. He had sacrificed both their happiness to make sure that she was safe. He just hoped that she understood why he had done it.

Harry was sitting alone outside the tent that Hermione had somehow fitted into her handbag. He was there on guard for the evening, watching for the people they were hiding from. The problem was, there was so many of them that there was no way to know whether or not anyone was truly on their side or his.

He shuddered lightly at that thought. His friends could have even joined the dark side by now. How could he know? If he had any contact with them, they could tell everyone where he was. And that would mean not only putting himself in danger, but his friends as well. He couldn't have that.

But the person he was most concerned about was Ginny. He loved her with all his heart, but he couldn't be with her. He couldn't even see her. He couldn't write to her, he couldn't even read any letters they had sent one another because he had to leave them all behind for fear of someone finding them and linking her to him. She was everything to him. He could only hope that she felt the same, especially after all of this was over.

But what was he supposed to do if she got hurt? He couldn't live with himself. If she died, he'd die too, at least on the inside. He couldn't live without her. This was torture enough but at least he knew she would still be there when he got back. If she wasn't? His heart skipped several beats at that idea and he began to feel sick. He hated himself for causing the deaths of so many people already but if she ended up dead he wouldn't be able to live with himself at all and he would have to kill himself as well. It would be the only way of putting things right.

He shook those thoughts away quickly when he heard something moving in the bushes though. He quickly drew his wand, his heart racing. Ron and Hermione were asleep so he knew he had no back up. Not unless there was so much noise that they awoke, and waking Ron was the hardest thing he had ever had to do so he had a feeling he may well be on his own.

He began to breathe quite quickly, although he was trying to stay as quiet as he could. He heard the sound again, a crunching of twigs under foot, and he knew there was someone there. "Who's there?" he called, his grip tightening on his wand momentarily. Silence. "I said, who's there?" he called again. But again, just silence.

Had he imagined it? Maybe. Maybe he had done. He slowly walked around each side of the tent, just making sure there was nobody there. He relaxed slightly. It must have been a rabbit or something. When he had reached the front of the tent again, to his surprise, he found a letter laying there. "Shit," he said quietly, his eyes searching the darkness for where it had come from. There was nothing there though. He thought he saw a glint of red off in the distance, though. "It's just a deer, Harry," he told himself, picking up the letter and seeing his name on the envelope. And it was in Ginny's handwriting.

_Dear Harry,_

_I know I shouldn't be writing to you like this but I had to let you know what's going on. Snape's the headmaster now, and they've got death eaters working here in the school. We're all okay so far, but I think they're getting suspicious of Ron's disappearance with Dragon Pox. I'm going to try to write to Mum and let her know before they send anyone there but it's difficult to get anything in or out of the castle without them knowing._

_How are you? And how are Ron and Hermione? I miss you. We all miss you. But I miss you more than I ever thought I could. When will you be coming back? Do you know yet? It would be so nice to see you._

_I'm sorry I had to leave the letter this way but I don't want to be seen away from the castle. If they find out I'm away... Well, you know._

_Anyway, I'll try to write to you again soon. If I can find you again, that is. I hope you're not mad that I did this. I just had to do something._

_Love, Ginny_  
_xxxx_

Harry couldn't believe it. A letter from Ginny. It meant so much to him that she would risk all that just to give him a letter. He read the letter over and over again, a smile upon his lips for the first time in months. He wanted to write a letter back to her but he had no idea how to get it to her without it being found. He didn't want to cause her any more trouble.

Hearing someone stirring in the tent, Harry put the letter away. He wouldn't show it to them. They didn't need to see it. It would only make them more home sick. He didn't want it to seem like he was getting letters and they weren't either. That would make him seem like some sort of bastard, keeping them there with him like prisoners (although in his defence they refused to leave when he told them they could do if they wanted to) and not even let them contact their families when he was getting letters from Ginny.

It was Hermione who came out of the tent, her hair looking extremely bushy as it always did when she had just woken up. "Harry? Is everything okay?" she asked, a look of tired concern on her face. She had obviously heard Harry call out and then proceed to wander around the tent.

It had taken her long enough to get up though! Hell, he'd be dead by now if it was a real attack and she took that long! He wouldn't mention that now though. It seemed cruel, with all they were doing for him. "It was nothing. Just a deer, I think. I guess I startled it. Go back to bed, you'll need the energy for the morning if we're to move on again."

"No, no, I can't sleep anyway. Ronald's snoring is enough to wake Beauxbatons from his current sleeping place, let alone the other people in the tent," she joked, a small smile crossing her lips. They had both been trying to keep Harry in a good mood lately, and it was working. At least they were happy, even if it wasn't a great predicament they were in.

"Oh, right," Harry replied, his eyes turning to look into the forest again. "You know, I've never seen many animals in there," he stated.

"They're nocturnal, that's why," she responded, her hand going into her pocket and pulling out a full-sized Encyclopedia.

"Hermione! Where, for Merlin's sake, did you get that from?" Harry asked, an inquisitive look upon his face. She had everything with her, she really did.

"Enlarged my pockets too, didn't I tell you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow and shaking her head before proceeding to look up some nocturnal animals. "Yeah, it looks like deers can come out at night. I suppose that must be what you saw. Unless it was a fox?"

Harry hesitated, then shrugged, "I don't know, I only caught sight of it in the distance, and it was only for a few seconds. I don't think it saw me though." She must have seen him. His heart raced at this thought, although he felt oddly disappointed that she hadn't stopped long enough to say hello to him.

"What're you thinking about?" Hermione asked. Harry then realised she had been staring at him while he thought of Ginny and he blushed slightly. "I guess the colour reminded me of... Ginny..." he said quietly, a small frown crossing his lips.

"Oh, I'm sure she's fine," Hermione told him confidently. "You know she's a strong woman. She's got Fred and George as brothers, that alone will have taught her to be strong," she added, smiling slightly again.

"You're right. I just miss her, that's all," he said, looking away and at the floor. "It's alright for you, Ron's here with you," he added.

"Harry!" Hermione squeaked, blushing bright red.

"What?" he asked, grinning at her. But he did wish that Ginny was there too. It would have been so much more bareable if she had been there.

Hermione scowled at Harry, putting her book back into her pocket and going back inside the tent. It was getting light by that point anyway, so she got them both something to eat and returned outside to where Harry was sitting. "He's still asleep, so we might as well eat now and then we can get the tent down and remove the charms while he has something later, agreed?"

"Agreed," Harry nodded, taking his portion and eating it in only a few mouthfuls. He was hungry but they were nearly out of food. He had no idea how they were going to get anything more to eat when it was gone. And at that rate, with Ron eating everything in sight, it wouldn't be more than a few days until it was all gone. "One of us should go foraging as well," Harry suggested. "We need something to eat. If he keeps eating like he is, we won't have much left."

"Oi! I don't eat that much," came a grumpy voice instantly recognisable as Ron from just inside the tent door.

"You eat more than we do, Ronald!" Hermione protested, passing him his portion too. He looked disgusted by the size of it, opening his mouth to complain but the look Hermione gave him instantly made him close it again around his breakfast.

"I'll leave you two to it while I go looking for more food then, shall I?" Harry asked, winking at Hermione as he got up to leave.

"Harry! Seriously!" Hermione warned him, also rising back to her feet and storming back into the tent to get changed.

"Women," Ron mumbled, following her back inside.

Harry chuckled to himself, heading into the woodland where Ginny had been just hours previously. He could still smell her perfume, he was sure of it. All the while he searched for food, he secretly hoped to see her too, but it wasn't to be. She had indeed returned to the castle. He just hoped that she had made it back safely. He could only wait to find out, he supposed.

Eventually, having collected enough berries and leaves to last them a few more days, Harry returned to the tent to find it had gone back into Hermione's bag and they were sat on the ground waiting for Harry.

"I found a few bits," he told them, smiling at them. "Mostly berries and leaves, but it should be enough to get us by."

Ron groaned, "I'd rather have a cheesecake, to be honest!"

"Where, exactly, do you expect me to get one of those from?" Harry asked, bewildered he would even suggest he could get such a thing.

"Look, I'm just hungry, okay?" Ron snapped, getting back to his feet and going to look in Harry's bag of new foods. He took a couple of handfuls of berries and wandered off in the direction they were going.

Harry and Hermione rolled their eyes and followed him, both of them looking for more food as they went. If they were lucky, what they had might last them the rest of the day, at the rate Ron was eating. But Harry wasn't hungry. He just wanted to see Ginny and he'd be fine again.


End file.
